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    Atoms: Five States of Matter

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    Jhuliane Ralph
    The document discusses the key concepts of matter, including defining matter as anything that has mass and takes up space. It describes the differences between mass and weight, and explains that volume refers to the amount of space something occupies. It outlines the main states of matter as solids, liquids, gases, and plasmas, and discusses how physical properties and energy levels determine a substance's state. The document distinguishes between physical changes, which alter a substance's state without changing its molecular structure, and chemical changes, which create or destroy atomic bonds and alter a substance's basic chemical composition.

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    Atoms: Five States of Matter

    Uploaded by

    Jhuliane Ralph
    25 views4 pages
    The document discusses the key concepts of matter, including defining matter as anything that has mass and takes up space. It describes the differences between mass and weight, and explains that volume refers to the amount of space something occupies. It outlines the main states of matter as solids, liquids, gases, and plasmas, and discusses how physical properties and energy levels determine a substance's state. The document distinguishes between physical changes, which alter a substance's state without changing its molecular structure, and chemical changes, which create or destroy atomic bonds and alter a substance's basic chemical composition.

    Original Title

    What is matter

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    The document discusses the key concepts of matter, including defining matter as anything that has mass and takes up space. It describes the differences between mass and weight, and explains that volume refers to the amount of space something occupies. It outlines the main states of matter as solids, liquids, gases, and plasmas, and discusses how physical properties and energy levels determine a substance's state. The document distinguishes between physical changes, which alter a substance's state without changing its molecular structure, and chemical changes, which create or destroy atomic bonds and alter a substance's basic chemical composition.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    25 views4 pages

    Atoms: Five States of Matter

    Uploaded by

    Jhuliane Ralph
    The document discusses the key concepts of matter, including defining matter as anything that has mass and takes up space. It describes the differences between mass and weight, and explains that volume refers to the amount of space something occupies. It outlines the main states of matter as solids, liquids, gases, and plasmas, and discusses how physical properties and energy levels determine a substance's state. The document distinguishes between physical changes, which alter a substance's state without changing its molecular structure, and chemical changes, which create or destroy atomic bonds and alter a substance's basic chemical composition.

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    You are on page 1of 4

    What is matter? Matter is everything around you.

     Atoms and
    compounds are all made of very small parts of matter. Those
    atoms go on to build the things you see and touch every day.
    Matter is defined as anything that has mass and takes up space
    (it has volume).

    What is mass? Mass is the amount of matter in an object. You


    might have a small object with a lot of mass such as a statue
    made of lead (Pb). You might have a large object with very
    little mass such as a balloon filled with helium (He). You should
    also know there is a difference between mass and weight. Mass
    is a measure of the matter in an object while weight is a
    measure of gravity’s pull on an object.

    What is volume? Volume is the amount of space something


    occupies. Words such as big, little, long, or short are used to
    describe volumes. A marble takes up a small volume while a
    star occupies a large volume. Different states of matter will fill
    volumes in different ways.

    Even though matter can be found all over the Universe, you will
    only find it in a few forms (states) on Earth. We cover
    five states of matter on the site. Each of those states is
    sometimes called a phase. There are many other states of
    matter that exist in extreme environments. Scientists will
    probably discover more states of matter as we continue to
    explore the Universe.

    Five States of Matter


    What are the main states of matter? Everyone should know
    about solids, liquids, gases, and plasmas. Scientists have
    always known about solids, liquids, and gases. Plasma was a
    new idea when it was identified by William Crookes in 1879. We
    also like to talk about the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). It’s
    a fun state of matter when you remove almost all energy from
    a system. The scientists (Cornell, Ketterle, and Wieman) who
    worked with the Bose-Einstein condensate received a Nobel
    Prize for their work in 2001.

    What makes a state of matter? It's all about the physical


    state and energy in the atoms and molecules. Think about
    solids. Physical properties of a solid often include "hard" and
    "brittle." Liquids are fluidy, move around a little, and fill up
    containers. Gases are always around you, but the molecules of
    a gas are much farther apart than the molecules in a liquid. If a
    gas has an odor, you’ll often be able to smell it before you can
    see it. The BEC is all about atoms that are closer and less
    energetic than atoms in a solid.

    Changing States of Matter


    What is a physical change in matter? Molecules can move from
    one physical state to another (phase change) and not change
    their atomic structure. Oxygen (O ) gas has the same
    2

    chemical properties as liquid oxygen. The liquid state is colder


    and denser (less energy), but the molecules are the same.
    Water (H O) is another example. A water molecule is made up
    2

    of two hydrogen (H) atoms and one oxygen (O) atom. It has


    the same molecular structure whether it is a gas, liquid,
    or solid. Although its physical state may change because of
    different amounts of energy, its atomic structure remains the
    same.

    So what is a chemical change in matter? Let's start with that


    glass of pure water. If the formula of water were to change,
    that would be a chemical change. If you could add a second
    oxygen atom to a water (H O) molecule, you would have
    2

    hydrogen peroxide (H O ). The molecules would not be "water"


    2 2

    anymore. In reality, there are a variety of steps that go into


    creating hydrogen peroxide from water.

    Physical changes are related to changes in the


    immediate environment such as temperature, pressure, and
    other physical forces. Chemical changes occur when
    the bonds between atoms in a compound are created or
    destroyed. Generally, the basic chemical structure does not
    change when there is a physical change. Of course, in extreme
    environments such as the Sun, no molecule is safe from
    destruction.

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